Improved internet/Wi-fi performance
Discussion
Looking at how to improve internet/Wi-fi at home.
Provider is BT, fttc, only about 40mb speed.
Coverage can be patchy, and sometimes seems to drop out for a short period.
House is a newish 5 bed, over 3 storeys. Master socket is into the master bedroom, on the first floor, also have a Second socket on ground floor dining room.
Have replaced the BT hub we had (along with BT mini hotspot 600’s) with a TP Link Archer VR600, and TP Link AV600 powerlines. Hasn’t really made a lot of difference.
I use a power line with cables to feed PS4 and CCTV, which seems to work ok.
Tried a power line in the detached garage, but barely works at all (house CU supplies separate CU in garage).
Would ideally like to get Wi-fi in the garden, say upto 15mtrs from the house, is this possible? Also in the garage which is approx 8mtrs from the house.
Difficult to run cat 5/6 cables so choices are limited.
I guess the answer is a mesh system, with a ‘node’ on each floor? I like the idea of seamless changes to the strongest signal.
But which one?
Tenda nova mw3/6 - I have seen quite a few negatives.
BT whole home - received an email that these are on offer currently. Guess I would need the full size rather than the minis?
TP Link deco m4?
Netgear Orbi? Seems quite a lot more expensive than other options?
Devices connected - just the usual really, smartphones, sky Q, ps4, laptops, smart tv’s, smart lighting, sonos, Alexa etc etc.
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Provider is BT, fttc, only about 40mb speed.
Coverage can be patchy, and sometimes seems to drop out for a short period.
House is a newish 5 bed, over 3 storeys. Master socket is into the master bedroom, on the first floor, also have a Second socket on ground floor dining room.
Have replaced the BT hub we had (along with BT mini hotspot 600’s) with a TP Link Archer VR600, and TP Link AV600 powerlines. Hasn’t really made a lot of difference.
I use a power line with cables to feed PS4 and CCTV, which seems to work ok.
Tried a power line in the detached garage, but barely works at all (house CU supplies separate CU in garage).
Would ideally like to get Wi-fi in the garden, say upto 15mtrs from the house, is this possible? Also in the garage which is approx 8mtrs from the house.
Difficult to run cat 5/6 cables so choices are limited.
I guess the answer is a mesh system, with a ‘node’ on each floor? I like the idea of seamless changes to the strongest signal.
But which one?
Tenda nova mw3/6 - I have seen quite a few negatives.
BT whole home - received an email that these are on offer currently. Guess I would need the full size rather than the minis?
TP Link deco m4?
Netgear Orbi? Seems quite a lot more expensive than other options?
Devices connected - just the usual really, smartphones, sky Q, ps4, laptops, smart tv’s, smart lighting, sonos, Alexa etc etc.
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Are you connecting at 2.4 or 5GHz? 2.4 GHz should give you more range and less dropouts.
I've got the same router as you, it's way better than the Sky one it replaced but you can see the signal strength of the 5GHz signal drop fairly quickly with my phone and work laptop but not with my personal laptop or ipad.
The TVs are absolutely rock solid streaming.
Smart lighting, at least Hue, use their own wireless protocol.
I've got the same router as you, it's way better than the Sky one it replaced but you can see the signal strength of the 5GHz signal drop fairly quickly with my phone and work laptop but not with my personal laptop or ipad.
The TVs are absolutely rock solid streaming.
Smart lighting, at least Hue, use their own wireless protocol.
frisbee said:
Are you connecting at 2.4 or 5GHz? 2.4 GHz should give you more range and less dropouts.
I've got the same router as you, it's way better than the Sky one it replaced but you can see the signal strength of the 5GHz signal drop fairly quickly with my phone and work laptop but not with my personal laptop or ipad.
The TVs are absolutely rock solid streaming.
Smart lighting, at least Hue, use their own wireless protocol.
90% of the time we are using 2.4GHz. Only really use the 5 on mobiles when upstairs close to the router. As you say, that signal seems to drop off rather suddenly. I've got the same router as you, it's way better than the Sky one it replaced but you can see the signal strength of the 5GHz signal drop fairly quickly with my phone and work laptop but not with my personal laptop or ipad.
The TVs are absolutely rock solid streaming.
Smart lighting, at least Hue, use their own wireless protocol.
From what I have read, the later BT Hubs are supposedly a lot better than the early ones. Not sure on sky ones though.
Mesh system.
I have a Tenda MW3 and it's worked flawlessly from day one. We have a 5 bed 1970's brick built property with a lot of devices. One node in my office with the router at one end of the house, node in the middle spare bedroom and final node in the garage at the far end.
I can now get wifi effectively in the garden and my man shed which is a good 15-20m away. Loads of devices 4 ipads, 4 phones, multiple laptops, amazon and smart home stuff, games consoles and can stream Netflix 4k to the TV.
I have a Tenda MW3 and it's worked flawlessly from day one. We have a 5 bed 1970's brick built property with a lot of devices. One node in my office with the router at one end of the house, node in the middle spare bedroom and final node in the garage at the far end.
I can now get wifi effectively in the garden and my man shed which is a good 15-20m away. Loads of devices 4 ipads, 4 phones, multiple laptops, amazon and smart home stuff, games consoles and can stream Netflix 4k to the TV.
Bullett said:
Mesh system.
I have a Tenda MW3 and it's worked flawlessly from day one. We have a 5 bed 1970's brick built property with a lot of devices. One node in my office with the router at one end of the house, node in the middle spare bedroom and final node in the garage at the far end.
I can now get wifi effectively in the garden and my man shed which is a good 15-20m away. Loads of devices 4 ipads, 4 phones, multiple laptops, amazon and smart home stuff, games consoles and can stream Netflix 4k to the TV.
Pretty much the same here - garden shed/streaming/smarthome/phones/laptops etc etc only with Google mesh. Night and day compared to the Virgin POS.I have a Tenda MW3 and it's worked flawlessly from day one. We have a 5 bed 1970's brick built property with a lot of devices. One node in my office with the router at one end of the house, node in the middle spare bedroom and final node in the garage at the far end.
I can now get wifi effectively in the garden and my man shed which is a good 15-20m away. Loads of devices 4 ipads, 4 phones, multiple laptops, amazon and smart home stuff, games consoles and can stream Netflix 4k to the TV.
Bring back your BT router and add a couple of the discs could be the simplest route
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